OWENSBORO, Ky. – An Evansville, Indiana man pleaded guilty today in United States District Court, before Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl, to the charge of transportation of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.

In court, Zachary Andrew Coleman, 28, pleaded guilty to a single count Indictment pursuant to a plea agreement reached with the United States. According to the plea agreement, on or about February 6, 2015, Coleman picked up a twelve year old female from her residence in Owensboro, Kentucky and took her to his home in Evansville, Indiana for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual activity with her. Coleman communicated with the minor via a social networking site called MyLOL and sent sexually explicit messages to the minor, while claiming to be a teenager himself. Conversations obtained via a search of the minor’s computer show Coleman arranged to pick the minor up at her home for the purposes of transporting her to engage her in sexual activities that would violate Kentucky law.

Coleman was arrested on May 5, 2015 by federal authorities. Coleman faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, and supervised release of not less than 5 years and not more than life. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place in Owensboro on June 9, 2016 at 9:00 CST.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney A. Spencer McKiness, and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with assistance from the Daviess County, Kentucky Sheriff’s Office, and the Evansville, Indiana Police Department.

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This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."